I finally decided that I was missing out by not having Tasker automate my life for me, so bought it as well as the full version of Secure Settings.
I've managed a couple of simple Profiles, but I'm having trouble with other stuff I want to do - most likely because I just don't understand.
A. Aim: When Maps is launched, turn on "WiFi" and "Location Mode High Accuracy"
Profile: Near Work
State: Cell Near (work)
Tasks: (1) WiFi On (2) Secure Settings, Location Mode/High Accuracy
This almost works - opening Maps carries out the expected tasks, and when I exit maps WiFi turns off (desired behaviour). However, Location does not switch off again, it stays on switched on, and I don't understand why.
I'd like Location to switch off again when I exit Maps.
B. Aim: Switch on WiFi and Location Mode/Battery Saving and Location Reporting and Location History once an hour, for one minute, and allow (force?) Google to poll my location for a short period so that if I ever lose my phone and it is switched off, there will be a trail of sorts (without having to leave all these services switched on all the time,which canes my battery).
Profile: Manage Location Services
State: Time - I don't know how I can make the profile active for one minute, every hour
Tasks: (1) WiFi On
Then I get lost - I can't see how to enable Location Reporting which is in Location Services in my phone settings. Also I don't know if doing that would immediately prompt the phone to contact Google and report its location (I assume it would).
C: Aim: Between 10pm-9am, if at home, then silence phone and switch off notification light
State: Cell near (home)
This is as far as I've got. I don't understand how to use time as a defining factor. Nor do I know how to switch off the notification light.
If anyone could help then I'd be very grateful!
Also, after reading a lot of Tasker walkthroughs/userguides (and not understanding a lot of them) I am none the wiser as to how to set up an 'exit task'?
There are a lot of issues regarding Secure Settings, I don't recommend it. The only way to turn on/off gps (and the way I'd do it personally) is use root shell to navigate through the settings or better yet set Status Bar-Open and using a Shell-"input tap x y" Use Root: Yes to tap on the GPS quick setting widget.
To add an exit task simply long press on the action part of your profile (on the main screen) and the options will appear. You can also add additional State, Time or Action matchings to your one profile, by long-pressing on the left part!
<<< Please say thanks if I was of help.
Sent from my SCH-I605 using xda app-developers app
Related
Download. Simply decompress it and copy it on your Windows Mobile 6 device and run it. (Works on my Polaris.)
Details
Source code
Description
Use your PDA to acquire your GPS position and send it through an SMS.
The GPS position is update every 5 seconds (in order to conserve energy).
SMSs can be sent automatically at regular time intervals.
Do you like hiking?
What if you go out in the wilderness and have an accident? How do you direct a rescue team to your location?
You can use Astrolabe on your PDA to acquire your GPS position and send it through an SMS to your friends / parents / children / rescue team.
Privacy
SMSs are not encrypted, so anyone who tracks your phone number can tell your precise position by reading the SMSs with your GPS position.
However, it's debatable whether this is relevant because if someone tracks your phone number, they may already know the position of your phone in the communication grid.
Power saving modes explained
The following power saving modes are available: none, manual, auto.
None
In this mode there is no power saving. The application and the GPS are running even if the PDA is in standby.
GPS positions are retrieved as soon as they are available and are automatically sent through SMSs as soon as it is mandated.
Warning: In this mode, the battery is drained quickly (because keeping the GPS active requires a lot of power). Therefore, the "Auto" power saving mode is active by default.
Use this mode only when GPS position availability is critical.
Manual
In this mode the power consumption is the same as if the application (including the GPS) is not running.
However, you must keep your PDA on in order for GPS positions to be retrieved and automatically sent through SMSs.
Use this mode only when power consumption must be at minimum.
Auto
In this mode the application is running all the time, but the GPS is sleeping most of the time.
Once every 30 minutes, the GPS is awoken for maximum 5 minutes in order to get a GPS position and automatically send it through SMS. When a GPS position is available, this timer is reset.
In this mode, since the PDA sleeps most of the time, it may miss the narrowest chance it may have to get a GPS signal. In order to be sure that GPS positions are retrieved and automatically sent through SMSs, you must keep your PDA on.
Warning: Do not rely on the ability of a PDA in standby mode to automatically acquire a GPS position in (maximum) 5 minutes. Check this yourself!
Use this mode in most cases.
Tests showed that in this mode the battery (of a HTC Polaris, 1350 mAh) would be depleted in about 16 hours, if no GPS signal is available; if there is a GPS signal, the autonomy should be greatly increased (an informal test indicates more than twice the autonomy). Without power saving, the battery would be depleted in about 6 hours.
Do you like hiking?
What if you go out in the wilderness and have an accident? How do you direct a rescue team to your location?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what if there isent any signal?
(joking..)
Nice app btw
If there is no signal, the program waits until it acquires a new GPS position. Then, a new SMS is sent within (generally) 5 seconds.
(Of course, if the repeat time is X, the SMS is sent only if more time than X has passed since the last sent SMS.)
Note: Keeping the GPS active drains the battery quickly.
6ITdtvFQqY said:
If there is no signal, the program waits until it acquires a new GPS position. Then, a new SMS is sent within (generally) 5 seconds.
(Of course, if the repeat time is X, the SMS is sent only if more time than X has passed since the last sent SMS.)
Note: Keeping the GPS active drains the battery quickly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hace seen many programs like yours, almost all drains battery when there is no GPS signal (inside buildings). Only one programs deals it better, but that has many other issues. One way to stop draining the battery is to read 'N' (say 50) number of NMEA messages from GPS and then turn off GPS for about 'M' (5 - 15) minutes. Then try again. This will save lot of battery. May be you can try implementing it.
You can download a new version which has 2 new features.
You can see the trail of GPS locations where you were. The trail is updated once per minute.
A power save mode is available. If this mode is active, the PDA's power consumption is the same as if the application is not running; however, you must have your PDA on in order for GPS locations to be retrieved and automatically sent through SMSs.
Warning: Keeping the GPS active drains the battery quickly. Therefore, the power save mode is active by default.
Download
Details.
tahdor said:
I hace seen many programs like yours, almost all drains battery when there is no GPS signal (inside buildings). Only one programs deals it better, but that has many other issues. One way to stop draining the battery is to read 'N' (say 50) number of NMEA messages from GPS and then turn off GPS for about 'M' (5 - 15) minutes. Then try again. This will save lot of battery. May be you can try implementing it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As you can see, I've implemented a manual power save mode.
In theory, an automated power save mode can be implemented, where the GPS is woke up every 30 minutes to get a location and then sent back to sleep. However, I have no idea what that would do to the device, that is, waking it up every half hour and then shutting it down.
But most importantly, if a GPS location can't be retrieved, what would the device do? The user could be sleeping in a motel for the night (or move through caves or canyons) and the walls could block the GPS signal. Should the device keep trying and thusly consume energy (for how long?), or go back to sleep and miss even the smallest chance of getting a GPS location in those 30 minutes?
An automated power save mode is in conflict with the criticality of having a GPS location any time it is available. Of course, if the device has no power this becomes irrelevant, so a power save mode is necessary. But it's important for the user to understand what's going on.
The current manual mode allows the user to understand that and allows the settings (especially the trail) to remain active all the time. For the moment I consider this to be the best solution.
Accelerometer
Hi,
Your program i very interesting, it will be great to manage the accelerometer
and send a SMS when the phone do not move or when it goes from vertical to
horizontal position.
What do you think of that?
Regards
doco76 said:
send a SMS when the phone do not move or when it goes from vertical to horizontal position.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In what context would someone use such a feature? I mean, what does an accelerometer provide that the GPS's altitude does not?
I guess an SMS could be sent as soon as a significant change in altitude occurs (because this could indicate a fall).
Very good idea, thank you
I know you're still developing this program,
Can you add customizable SMS feature? I might need to send an sms in my native language.
And
The program will send SMS automaticaly to Predefined Numbers feature would be great
May it be easy
I know you're still developing this program
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The development is actually frozen. I am just implementing critical stuff, like power saving, and doing bug fixing.
Can you add customizable SMS feature? I might need to send an sms in my native language.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can simply send a normal SMS. I'll add a "copy GPS position to clipboard" feature to go with that.
The program will send SMS automaticaly to Predefined Numbers feature would be great
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
SMSs are sent to a predefined agenda contact. Someone who wants to send SMSs with his GPS location should normally do so to a regular agenda contact, so he'll already have an agenda contact or can setup one anytime. What particular usage would there be for an SMS sent to a phone number instead of an agenda contact?
I'll have a new version by tomorrow (if tests are okay) with multiple power saving modes: none, manual (as is now), automatic (where the GPS is automatically woken up to get a location - 5 every 30 minutes). I'll include the "copy GPS position to clipboard" in there.
In automatic power saving mode, tests showed that the battery (of my Polaris, 1350 mAh) would be depleted in about 16 hours (if no GPS signal is available; if it is and reception is good, the autonomy should be greatly increased). Without power saving, the battery would be depleted in about 6 hours.
Although the new version is already up, I'll make a small change later today.
Version 1.3.1 is up. See the first post.
I am going for a hike up the cobbler and Ben Ime in the Arrochar Alps on friday so i will take my polaris and see how things go.
Well that hike went well and i have taken my polaris on a few other hikes.
To be honest you have almost developed a GPS application for your phone. The sms ability is great, but what i really liked was the trail plotting ability.
A standalone GPS will provide you with a line route against gradient maps. I don't expect there to be gradient maps but just a route line sampled at regular intervals would be great. It would be a good aid to plotting your route with a paper map.
Can i ask if the trail samples can be increased?
The current default power saving mode is "Auto", which means that Astrolabe can only take a GPS location once every 30 minutes. As such, the trail can't be updated more often. Moreover, if the 5 minutes window when Astrolabe attempts to get a GPS location is missed (because the GPS reception is poor), the next one is 30 minutes later, which mean that the trail accuracy is getting worse.
You can change the power saving mode is "None", in which case the trail is updated once per minute... but the battery dies out fast.
Instead of changing the power saving mode, you could manually start your PDA every time you think it's necessary to get a GPS location (and trail location). (Just look in Astrolabe to make sure that the time of the last GPS location is the current time.)
(As I said, the power saving modes will cause confusion.)
I added the trail feature after a bunch of us got lost in the woods. After some 2 hours of being off course we were debating whether to return or go further. Fortunately someone went 200 meters further and saw the road (from where we started). With this feature I could have seen that we were going in the right direction.
I really want to improve the battery life of my Hero as at the moment it only lasts about a day.
What would you say are the best 'battery life saving tips'
Thanks!
I don't have 10 saving tips, but turning off wifi and roaming internet will probably save some battery power and only use them when needed. lock screen after a 1 minute is probably another tip that will go along way.
ddind to what tweedie suggested: Turn GPS off when not using.
All those tips might make battery last 5 minutes longer or thereabout!
Personally I have found that the following settings suit me:
Internet- always on (for calendar and email updates)
Phone set to 2G (GSM)- I switch to 3G manually when actively using internet
Bluetooth off unless I'm actively using it
Wi-Fi off unless I'm actively using it
GPS off unless I'm actively using it
Just to let you know - turning GPS off or on is reliant on the application you use.
ie, if you turn GPS on and dont use a program which requires GPS, then GPS wont be activated.
But for my two cents which i've read around:
- Turn off automatic weather updates
- Turn most schedule feeds to be at least 1 hour (twitter, email, facebook etc). The more the longer your battery will last
- Turn off 3G if not actively using internet (as mentioned above)
- Install "Spare Parts" to check which program is eating your battery the most and consider if its worth it or not
- Turn off contact sync after your initial setup on your phone. No need to keep syncing contacts when it doesn't change too often
Advanced Task Killer - Download and properly close apps down after using them. Shortcut on home for quick access
APNDroid - Disable data services (3G/GPRS/EDGE). Home screen widget for quick access
Battery Widget - Handy home screen widget showing battery life and also gives options for enabling/disabling WIFI, GPS and Bluetooth. Also display settings.
Disable auto synchronization on things like people (facebook integration), mail etc.
Screen timeout - 1 minute is normally adequate, but I suppose there's no harm in turning it down to as low as 15 seconds, just depends on how you use it.
Turning off animations? - Don't know about this but surely it won't use as much memory so can't be a bad thing. (Spare parts)
Basically everything is off unless I need it, then I switch it on.
Adam
Wifi. With wifi on all day and barely any usage of 2G, I'm down to the red zone. Without wifi and 2G all day with text, emails, web browsing, etc, I'm only down to about 80%.
I recently installed Semi V17 and an updated BetterBatteryStats version. With that combination, I noticed that my device was never able to move into deep sleep due to constant location updates, thus causing battery drain. I think I've narrowed down the culprit for my battery drain, however, I'm not sure I know how to resolve it. It appears to be the Latitude support in Google Maps. I'm not enrolled in Latitude, but based on "adb shell dumpsys" output, it appears that it is running and requesting location updates constantly. The following is the registration for location updates from dumpsys. Notice that it is specifying no minimum time or distance, which implies (to me) constant updates.
Code:
Receiver{419e7ad0 Listener [email protected]}mUpdateRecords: {passive=UpdateRecord{421e75a0 mProvider: passive mUid: 10084}}:
passive:
UpdateRecord{421e75a0 mProvider: passive mUid: 10084}
mProvider=passive mReceiver=Receiver{419e7ad0 Listener [email protected]}mUpdateRecords: {passive=UpdateRecord{421e75a0 mProvider: passive mUid: 10084}}
mMinTime=0 mMinDistance=0.0
mSingleShot=false
mUid=10084
Dumpsys identifies the 10084 process as the LocationFriendService:
Code:
*APP* UID 10084 ProcessRecord{41af23e8 13037:com.google.android.apps.maps:LocationFriendService/10084}
class=com.google.googlenav.android.AndroidGmmApplication
Does anyone have any idea how to disable this service without completely freezing/removing the Google Maps application?
Thanks,
Craig
Have you turned off automatic location detection in the Latitude/Maps settings? You can completely disable it or set so it asks you to update it manually.
Also if you have Facebook installed make sure you disable location reporting in your Facebook app settings. That was a big one for me.
One other thing to check is any widgets that use location detection (like weather widgets).
In settings... same place where you enable the GPS.
Strangely, I had to click through to enable Latitude before I could get to the settings to control Latitude and really shut it off. I've now turned off everything I could find related to Latitude and will see if that "sticks". Previously, it would seem to work for some period of time and then all of the sudden start running like crazy, so until I've run like this for at least 24 hours I'm just not going to know if I've truly managed to disable this service.
Next time, check here first.http://www.chucknorrisfacts.com/
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using Tapatalk 2
csetera said:
Strangely, I had to click through to enable Latitude before I could get to the settings to control Latitude and really shut it off. I've now turned off everything I could find related to Latitude and will see if that "sticks". Previously, it would seem to work for some period of time and then all of the sudden start running like crazy, so until I've run like this for at least 24 hours I'm just not going to know if I've truly managed to disable this service.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It appears like disabling all things Latitude has cured my battery drain. If only they hadn't hidden those settings, it would have been way more obvious. Thanks for the tip.
what is the best way to save
battery?
If you don't get urgent calls or no calls at all (like me) then while using you phone put it in flight mode
Also install a task killer you like from the market and kill all the processes you don't need (maps,play service) or go to settings and force stop them
And if you are addicted to your mobile (like me) then plug the charger with extention wire or give up your addiction
Sent from my A11 using xda app-developers app
Put this together a long time ago and it was for the Motorola Droid Bionic. Hopefully some of the items will help you:
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If you are having short battery life here’s a list of things that can help. Just read through the list and select the items that fit with the way you want to use your phone. Not all items will work for everyone and this list was written for the Droid Bionic but most should work for your phone too:
- Don't use an automatic task killer--not even the one that comes with the phone. Reboot your phone and look at what's running. If anything that you've installed is running and there's no reason for it, then uninstall it and find an alternative that behaves. Ignore any stock apps that run on boot as I've found them to be more or less benign.
- Weather widgets, live wallpapers, news/social feeds, any app or service that you use that runs--do without it if you can. If you can’t do without it, lengthen it’s refresh time.
- Don't use antivirus
- Set your WIFI sleep policy to never. The default is "turn off when screen turns off". This will cause the wifi to reconnect every time you open the phone. From any Home Screen select Menu/Settings/Wireless & Networks/ and then use the Menu button to see some new options - select Advanced. Then select Wifi Sleep Policy and set it to Never. Home key to return to Home Screen.
- If you have access to wifi, leave it toggled on as it is more efficient than 3G. Wifi consumes less battery power than 3G.
- I leave GPS toggled on too by the way. Apps use it as needed. When I'm done with Maps or an app that uses it, I'm sure to return to the home screen so GPS can stop. Under wireless settings turn on "Google location services" so that an app is able to use network resources to get your location instead of GPS. I have "VZW location services" turned off--don't know why that option is even there. By the way, I increase the speed of voice output > text to speech > speech rate because I like the directions to get spit out faster. That saves a bit of battery. Turning off the display and just listening for directions help. Also, often I just get the directions and then exit back to the home screen: GPS uses so much battery I try to get it over with ASAP.
- I have my battery set to "Performance Mode" and data is on all the time because I am on call 24x7. If you don't mind, try out a more conservative battery profile to save more gobs of energy.
- Set screen brightness to "Automatic"
- Under Accounts, click on any account listed and turn off sync for any items that you're not interested in syncing. For example, Google Books if you don't use it.
- Don't use Backup Assistant--I prefer syncing my contacts with Google. You don't need both. Also go into your contacts > menu > display options > backup assistant > UNCHECK. Also do contacts > menu > more > settings > contact storage > and select your Google account and "remember this choice"
- Turn on Bluetooth only when you are going to use it.
- Consider turning off voice privacy. This may not be a big deal but it will save some processing (and therefore battery). It may also improve call quality.
-Turn off haptic feedback, animations, and any un-needed sounds in Android settings and in your apps
- Set your screen timeout to as low a time as you can stand (I use 1 minute) and manually turn the screen off when you’ve finished using the phone.
- Turn off in-pocket detection. In-Pocket Detection has been the source of many issues already.
- Keyboard: turn off vibrate on key press and sounds for any keyboards you use
- Use a red or black screen background. On the original Droid screen--not sure about this Bionic screen--red was the most efficient color that could be displayed. To save maximum battery, in regards to wallpaper, install app “No Wallpaper”. It will allow you to select No Wallpaper as your wallpaper. The screen background will be totally black.
- Camera app: I like keeping location on and flash on auto. Consider turning location off or at least returning to the home screen ASAP when using camera if location for camera is on.
- In stock browser the default home page is Google and it uses your location. This is a bad idea as it can waste your battery for no reason. Make something else your home page and make sure to close any web page that uses your location when you're done viewing it.
- Charge your phone via the wall charger instead of computer USB as it is faster. Also, don't use long USB cords -- use regular power extension cords instead. I stick with the charger that came with the phone. Put the phone on charger when you go to bed every night.
- Consider installing the Home Replacement app Zeam. It is basic app that uses very few resources and will help with battery power.
- Emails: I don't know what email app you use, but try this. It saves battery power and in some cases emails arrive quicker. This scheme will have you using only the Gmail app on the phone for all email accounts whether they are pop3 accounts or Gmail. Using Gmail as your own personal push mail server
- If you are using Live Wall Papers, stop!
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This is a link to some very good videos about saving battery power on the Bionic (there are 4 parts and the other parts will show up as available videos when part 1 finishes):
Battery Saving Video
Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=cvWg7SbUgsI
If battery life is still bad: Consider doing a factory reset (Galaxy Nexus users beware!! A Factory Reset will wipe your sdcard of everything – backup accordingly): These have gotten pretty painless lately by following these simple steps: 1. Make sure Backup and Restore are checked in the Privacy setting. 2. When going through the setup after the reset, turn on wifi as soon as you can (assuming it is available). 3. After you have entered your Gmail account info, you will be presented with a screen that has two check boxes. Basically they are "Do you want Google to backup and restore this phone”. Make sure you check both of those. Your apps will then automatically reinstall (paid and free). Set the phone aside for a minute or two and let the apps download and install. 4. If rooted, use an app such as titanium backup to restore data only to select apps such as Tapatalk and you will not have to re-enter all your login information. I do this for 3-4 apps (Tapatalk, SPB Shell, etc.).
I've been flashing new roms/updates about once per day lately and I can be up and running with all my apps and settings back in place in less than 15 minutes. It's pretty painless now.
Hi all,
I have an AT&T Samsung Note 3 SM-N900A running Android 4.3 (baseband version N900AUCUBMJ5, kernel v3.4.0-1625098). I rooted it using Kingo, installed Tasker (with Secure Settings plugin), and created 2 profiles: one with a 'Home' location context, and one with a 'Work' location context. In the 'Location Edit' map screen for each, I set a pinned location w/ a radius of 200m. I also de-select 'GPS' (leaving only 'NET'), since I don't want GPS enabled all the time (to extend battery life). I confirm that these work when I'm actively using the phone.. the profile becomes active when I'm at the specified location (as expected). I know it's active because it's displayed in the Notification Panel (and it's also shown in green in the Tasker profiles list).
The issue I'm having is that after ~10 minutes of idle time (i.e. when the display is off and I'm not using the phone), I find that the profile is no longer active when I turn the display back on and start using the phone again. I confirmed that this *doesn't* happen after 1 minute, 2 minutes, nor 5 minutes… only > 10. I also confirmed that it happens for both profiles consistently. However, as soon as I start Tasker again from the Apps Drawer (or from Recent Apps screen), the profile is immediately activated again, and my Enter task is re-run.
I enabled the run log in Tasker prefs, but it basically shows a clean activation of the profile (with no warnings or anything that looks weird to me).
I know there's a 10-minute timeout in the Display Off Monitoring prefs, but that doesn't seem to be related to my issue. I tried reducing the All Checks Seconds from 600 to 90, rebooted the phone, and it still took ~10 minutes before the profile would become inactive after the phone being idle.
Any thoughts as to what the culprit might be? Are there any system logs I can look at that might shed some light here? I'm new to Android, and this seemed like the place to ask..
Thanks.
Ok, not solved..
Alright, bumping this, as the problem is back again after some time.
Has anyone ever seen Tasker exhibit the behavior I described? Again, I start the phone and Tasker profile is active, let the phone go idle for >10 minutes, the profile is no longer active and I need to restart Tasker manually to make it active again.
Still trying to figure out what logs are best to look at..